Illusion device.



No, 733,359. PATBNTED JULY 7, 190s.'

' A. A. WELSH..

- ILLUSLGN DEVICE..

APPLIUATION Pimmv No?. 1.2, i902.

No MODEL. A SHEETS-snm 1. l

WITESES: K I' i JE TRM,

No; 733,359. P JHBNTED JULY-1903;

' A. A, WBLSH.-

ILLUSION DBVIGE-- APPLICATION FILED NOV. 12, 1902.y l- Y l0 XGDEL. 4 SHEETS-'SHEET 2..

.m m w Iv w v l u /t l NO.- 733,359.v

l4 SBEBTS-jSHE-ET 3.

1go MODEL.

WITJEEE E5 UNITED STATES ."Patented July IQS.

PATENT OFFICE.

ADAM A. WELSH, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR- TO UNITED STATES CELESTIAL PARADISE CONSTRUCTION COMPANY, OF JERSEY' CITY, NEW JERSEY, A'CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY. Y, n

lLLuslovN DEVICE.`

'sPEoI'FIcATioN forming part or Letters Patent No. 733,359, dated July 7, 190e.

Application filed November 12, 1902. Serial No. 131,040. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it 'known that I, ADAM' A. WELSH, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and userailways, which are now so frequently used in amusement-parks, whereon a light car travels by gravity. Upon such railways covered passage-ways are sometimes built to representltunnels, and the illusion device which I have invented andl which is described below may ver)7 well be used in such tunnels, although it may also be used elsewhere. I shall describe it, however, in such location; and it consists in a peculiar arrangement ot mirrors whereby objects properly located with relation thereto may be reflected in such a manner as to be multiplied many times, and hence by very simple means heighten the attractiveness of the railway.

I have shown my invention applied to a single roadway, this being its most eective mode of use; but it will be evident to any one skilled in the art that its peculiarities may be utilized under different circumstances without departing from the spirit of the invention.`

My invention will be understood by reference to the drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a horizontal section on line 1 1 of Fig. 2, Fig. 2 being a Vertical cross-section of a structure containing my illusion device. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal Vertical section on line 3 i3 of Fig. 1, Fig. i being a view of the structure in which preferably my illusion device is mounted.

It will be. evident from reading the description which follows that the illusion device may be arranged and utilized under varying conditions. I have shown it, however, arranged in a tunnel of spiral forni, as shown in Fig. 4, which is mounted upon a staging and approached by railway-tracks adapted to be used with light cars and to operate by gravity.

Referring iirst to Fig. d, A is the approach` ing road-bod, mounted upon suitable supports a, and B is the retreating road-bed, mounted upon supports b. Upon suitable supports c is mounted a spiral covered roadway consisting of a covered tunnel C of about.

a turn and a half, connecting at A with the approaching track A and at B with the retreating track B. This tunnel. may belined with scenic paintings or in any other attrac.

tive manner and is provided at various places with a form of illusion device such as is now to be described. C represents the floor of the tunnel, c' being the railroad-track and cZ one of t-he'cars. tunnel, as indicated in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, are lined with hangings representing, for ex- The side walls of this ample, rocks, as indicated at C2, and also is provided with posts C3, decorated to represent columns of rough rock. Into the walls are set a series of mirrors D D D"L D3, preferably arranged at a slight angle to the line of railroad-track c,'though nearly parallel therewith, these mirrors being in pairs opposite v each other. In the walls C? also are'recesses I the representation of a. lion, a volcano, a serpent, or an alligator-as shown in the drawings. th objectv placed within the recess when properly lighted may be multiplied many times.

by cross-reflection from the mirrors F F2 or by reliection from the mirrors F F2 only in l j l Thus the object Es is not only reiiect-l ed in the mirrors E E2, but is also reiiected The result of this arrangement is that conjunction with the object F3. If the on'L looker happens to bein right position, it may be reflected from eithel` one of the mirrors D2 D3, or, again, in another position a reflection may be .had from the mirror D which may give the reflection of the recess in the mirror FZ It will thus be seen that any one passing over the railroad-track c in a rapidlymoving car will in a short space of time see a very large number of reflections, so that with very little material Very striking effects mayv ceilings, but also downward upon the objectsv and the mirrors, the objects being also lighted by other lights, if thought best. The ceiling of the roadway may be closed inby a covering C4, also representing stonework, to give the whole a homogeneous appearance, or in any other way which will tend to create the illusion desired.

In constructing this illusion device crossbeains G are built up' upon the supports c to the spiral tunnel, and upon these cross-beams G are laid joiss longitudinally of the structure, upon which are laid the planks of the floor C', on which is carried the railway c. The mirrors and objects above referred to are supported upon suitable platforms g.' The whole is walled in by side walls G' and roof G2, the second Hoor, where needed, being provided in the same manner with cross-beams G3, suitably supported intermediate of the cross-beams G and the roof G2, the two-story arrangement being shown in Fig. 2. The centers of the columns t.)3 may be extended upwardly to form supports for the second story and roof. It is evident that the mirrors in this arrangement maybe placed'at some\vhatvarying angles, depending upon lthe radi-us of the railroad-track, without departing from the spirit of my invention, whicl-consists in having certain of the -mirrors *arranged substantially parallel (by which I mean, preferably, not exactly parallel with the railroad-tracks, but at a slight angle thereto) and by having the recessed mirrorsvarranged at substantially (though not necessarily exactly) right angles to each -other, and, as shown, at substantially an angle of forty-live degrees with the railroadtrack. These points of detail are immaterial. Moreover, it is equally clear that those mirrors substantially parallel with the railroad-track may be omitted entirely in some cases, leaving, the recesses alone with their mirrors to produce the required effects. Moreover, if thought best, the road may be double-tracked, provided the levels of the other' parts of the structure will permit, so that thesame illusion may be either seen twice by persons going in the same direction or else by persons going in an opposite direction, these being variations in the use of my illusion and not in its essence. l have shown this tunnel 'arranged in the form of a spiral of more than one turn, and hence in a portion of it the tracks are arranged one over the other; but this is also a detail of track arrangement which may he varied* to suit the circumstances. ln any ease the illusion de`' Vices may be arranged along the walls of the entire tunnel or not, as thought best, the objects to be reflected being dierent in different recesses to suit the taste of the builder. Such details do not form necessarily a part of my invention, which relates te the arrangement of mirrors in connection with a roadway, substantially as described, whereby objects placed at certain points may be multiplied indefinitely, and when these mirrors are arranged as shown many interesting illu sions may be seen.

I have shown the roadway as single and as arranged for the transit of cars, but boats may be used instead or a pathway for walkingmay be substituted, the objects to be 4refiected of course being chosen with reference vto the use to which the device is to be put.

Moreover, in some instances the objects may be omitted, the onlooker in this case getting refiections oflhimself.

' Vhat I claim as my invention isl. An illusion device comprising a roadway, mirrors arranged at an angle thereto and to each other to forin a recess, and an object for refiection located within range of said vmirrors and said roadway, as described.

2. An illusion device eomprisinga roadway, two pairs of mirrors on opposite sides of said roadway, the mirrors of each pair arranged at an angle to each other and to said roadway andforming a recess, as described.

3. An illusion devicecomprisinga roadway,

a pair of mirrors arranged at an angle thereto' and to each other to form a recess, and an object for reflection located on the opposite side of said roadway from such mirrors and substantially opposite the adjacent edges of said mirrors, as set forth.

'l. An illusion device comprisingaroadway, mirrors located at opposite sides thereof, parallel to each other and at an angle with said roadway, as set forth. l

5. An illusion device comprisinga roadway, mirrors located on opposite sides thereof at an angle of substantially forty-tive degrees with said roadway, and at substantially right angles to cach other, as described.

4i. An illusion device comprisingaroadway, mirrors arranged at an angle thereto and to cach other and a mirror located on the opposite side nl' said roadway and parallel therewith, as set forth.

7. An illusion devicecomprisingaroadway, mirrors arranged at an angle thereto and to each other, and mirrors located opposite to each other on opposite sides of said roadway parallel therewith and in proximity to one of said first-named mirrors.

3. An illusion device comprisinga roadway, two pairs of mirrors on opposite sides of said roadway, the mirrors ol' each pair arranged at opposite sides oi' said roadway and forming a recess, and two other mirrors located opposite to each other f n opposite sides of IOC IKO

'sai roadway suesenneiiy' perallei therewith and each in proximiy ie one ef seid reeesses. v

9. Aniiiusion evice cempisingaroawey, mirrors ioeeted on oppesie eiee ihereo ab angie of ee-bstentiaiiy foreyfive Gegrees wi-o seid roadway, end asubsentieiiy righi, angles "Le each ejer, and we mirrors ieee-ted opposite each obiie'f on opposite sides of said i'eeway azi subeantieiiy pareiiei therewith, as sei; forth` 10. An illusion device comprising a reed.- wey, two pairs of mim-ors, the mirrors of each pair being frange-d at Suistaneiaiiy right magies zo each other.' and ab angie ef sub smmiaiiy forty-live degrees with said feed.- wey, ami two pairs of mirrors each mi'oiof each pair being iocaied opposite tile other and eaoii p; ir of miziois being in pios;- iy o bhe ende of :said aegiiieriyerrei'zf i minors and pereiiei wiii seid feeding', e described.

il, in a scemi@ miiwey, e muuei compilein wo or more '.f'eoesses errmige @poe-ite l2. lie e seemie raiiwey, e tzmel having' miryors iosa/ned eppesite each other forming portions of iie Weil thereof and iiavin'g receesee iosa-eed opposite each other, each pu vided with en object, tiie rear Weils ef seid recesses being made up ef mirrors, es and for the piupoeee described.

i3. e seenio miiweyLe tunuei having one or more recesses, each being provided wiLii object, the rem weiis f each. recess being formed ei' mirrors, iie ceiiinfT of each recees being aise recessed and provided with lights, es and for the purposes set forth.

le' in e scenic railway, e tunnel eurve in iol-m of e epizei whereby the entmnee and oi" ie te said Lunnei :ii-e ou different leveie and e, poiien ef seid tunnei is arranged in t'ee stories, Seid tunnei being provided with miners ioeeeci ou epposie sides iiereof, :mei a. rzfiiifaymaeii between said 'mirror-s, ae emi for the purposes described. l

Zu te'imouy whereof i hereunto eet; mg, 22mm-e iiiis iii day of November, 1902.

ADM. A. WEL-Sii.-

w iteesse:

GROENE U. (i, QUALE, M. E. FLAHER'LY. 

